Fan Collection - The Ways of Adepts

Discussion on playing Earthdawn. Experiences, stories, and questions related to being a player.
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Owen
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Joined:Tue Jun 22, 2021 11:22 am
Fan Collection - The Ways of Adepts

Post by Owen » Tue Jun 22, 2021 12:15 pm

So, based on a discussion on the FASA Discord, this is a place for people to submit discipline essays or interviews, in the style of The Adept's Way, in order to collect different perspectives on discipline philosophy. If there's a significant quantity of submissions, I may eventually look into collecting them into a fan book or database or something of that nature. For now, a forum thread will do. Please don't feel like you need to have some specific length or quality of writing to submit something, this is about collecting perspectives and not every adept is quite as loquacious as those in the Adept's Way. :D Also, I assume that a lot of people will write from the perspective of characters they have played, but feel free to invent someone too.

As an optional add on, if the character's discipline philosophy doesn't fit well with the discipline talent set-up presented in the player's guide, I suggest including the progression of talents they use instead. Using All Talents to Advance makes the disciplines pretty flexible, letting you ignore some discipline talents while using some talent options to advance your circle, so if your Beastmaster considers Animal Bond to be essential to their discipline and Wilderness Survival to be optional, then please include that to give a better idea of how the philosophy you're describing plays out in the game.

For people who like having context for what they write, assume these essays are being collected by Op'Skith Chona, a T'skrang Warden Scout and follower of the Mystic Path of the Scholar who is working on collecting material for a second volume of Merrox's Adept's Way by traveling across Barsaive to interview members of different disciplines, going as far as to track them down during their adventures if he has reason to believe they have an unusual perspective on their Discipline(s). He'll back you into a corner and buy as many drinks as he has to get you talking, or appear out of the wilderness to join you at camp for an evening. But of course, feel free to ignore this if you prefer. Maybe he got the information second hand from someone else your character knows.

Owen
Posts:2
Joined:Tue Jun 22, 2021 11:22 am

Re: Fan Collection - The Ways of Adepts

Post by Owen » Tue Jun 22, 2021 12:21 pm

And for the first submission:

Excerpts from an interview with Milovan Borodai. A Dwarven Journeyman Cavalryman of some small renown. Formerly of the Throalic Lancers as well as the, since dissolved, Red Wing explorer’s group.
Spoiler:
On the Bonded's Selection
It is well known that mounts choose their cavalryman, but few understand what that means. Cavalryman's mounts are beasts like any other, they can be broken, they can be trained and compelled into service by whip and spurs. Any beast, no matter how stubborn, will eventually be brought to heel. However, such mounts are not fit for the purposes of adept cavalrymen. The connection of cavalryman and bonded is far greater than any other connection between rider and mount, and so it must start differently.

Consider what it means for a nameless beast to choose a namegiver. It is an act of absolute trust, to gift another with the opportunity to decide your name, your very identity on the most fundamental level. Such a choice is not offered to us namegivers, we take what we are given, and we make the most of it. Even the dragons, who the troubadours say named themselves, cannot understand the nature of the choice made by the cavalryman's bonded. Once the mount has chosen a cavalryman, and been named and bonded, their connection is deeper than friendship, marriage, deeper even than the bond between parent and child. The bonded has given absolute trust to their cavalryman, and what can we do but reciprocate it?

Not every potential mount will make that choice. And some are more trusting of namegivers than others. From what I have seen, most beasts know a cavalryman when they encounter one. It is something in their manner that changes, they can hear the call of an unbonded cavalryman, and have some idea of what it means. Some are enticed or intrigued by this alone. Others are frightened or angered by it and lash out. Others simply acknowledge and ignore it, either too prideful or simply uninterested. Sometimes, this initial resistance can be overcome with time and patience as trust is built, as with any other beast. Although, one must be careful not to overpower the mount, as they may find themselves with a beast that is domesticated without the proper spirit to bond. It is a delicate balance, to impress the beast with strength and will, without breaking it of its own. Mundane trainers may find the methods of the cavalryman laughably roundabout in some cases, but the results we get when we are successful are undeniable.

On Maintaining Faith with the Bonded

The bond places obligation on both mount and cavalryman. The mount will travel far from their natural home, face harsh conditions and harsher foes. They will bear tack, and rider and be placed in the path of conflict they often do not understand. The rider in turn, shall provide for every need of their mount's that they can. Food, shelter, comfort, as well as a share in their magic to strengthen and protect them.

However, it is not permitted to shield the mount from harm that the cavalryman would face themselves. To shield the mount from danger both dishonors the mount, who has given themselves to the cavalryman as fully as any creature ever can, and is, truly, impossible. It is very rare for a bonded mount to survive the loss of their cavalryman. The initial shock is brutal, and can often end their life on its own within a few hours. Which is the better of the two fates, for the grief of the loss drives the bonded to wasting and starvation over weeks. Only very rarely have I seen a mount survive the loss of their cavalryman, and only then when a close brother of the fallen took up the bond and helped cushion the loss.

I have heard too many times of cavalrymen who try to send their mounts away, or escape from them to face some mission they fear may be suicidal, only for the mount to join them (late), or to share their fate if they die. It makes for terribly dramatic songs, but awful tactics. Unless you're going to throw down your blades and take up farming the rest of your days your mount will face death as many times as you do on the battlefield, whether they're present or not, so give them the chance to fight. Remember, your mount chose this life as surely as you did, and rare is the adept who dies peacefully of old age.

On Replacing Bonded Mounts
Now, I can feel the hair stand up on the back of my neck as I bring up this topic. There is no easier way to bring out the fury of a young cavalryman than to merely suggest that they might ever replace their mount. But veterans know it is simply an inevitability. We namegivers outlive our mounts, even those gifted with the strength of the adepts' bond. And mounts can often die, or become crippled in the course of their adventures.

In the cases of the mount's death, it is depressingly simple. To lose a mount is almost an unimaginable hardship. You cannot be prepared for it. It will cost you a piece of your soul and can knock you out for days, or months in its wake. You have lost something that can never be regained. You may continue to ride some dumb beast, but the idea of ever forming a new bond seems unimaginable folly. To expose yourself to that loss again, willingly, seems utterly impossible. But then, one day you feel the offer again from a new mount. Once again, you are the object of that spirited and pure hope, and even hardened hearts are no match for that. The new bond will not be the same as the old, and the loss will never really fade, but something new will be kindled apart from it, and your heart can come to inhabit that bond instead, in time.

To retire an injured or aging mount is both easier and more difficult. There is no pain of sudden loss, no instant absence, but there is the slow, grinding awareness that the bond must be severed. It takes time to come to terms with it, and it depends on both mount and rider to understand that neither is served by going into battle with such constraints upon them. It is a dark thing to see a trusted companion look into your eyes, and to know that they would gladly give their last breath for you, but then to see them stumble, barely able to walk, and to know that it is time for them to go.

Once they have bonded a new battle mount, some keep the previous ones around as pack animals or simply as companionship, unwilling to fully part with them. Others prefer a clean break, and find some easy life for the bonded to live out their days. I even know a few enterprising businessmen who maintain special pastures where cavalrymen can pay to have their mounts live out their days in comfort and I salute the endeavor. But beware the cavalryman’s revenge if they find their beasts mistreated, and know that no petty horse dealer’s tricks will deceive them.

On the Unity of the Two Wills
It is a common belief that cavalrymen dominate their mounts, that the mount has no will outside of the cavalryman’s, and that is the source of its incredible loyalty and obedience. And this is true, but is only one half of the story. The bonding also brings the cavalryman into the mount’s mind deeply, inescapably. There is a kind of synthesis as the two become a whole, and in the end it would be just as true to say that the cavalryman has no will outside of the mount’s.

It is a strange experience and one I’m not entirely sure how to describe to someone who has never experienced it. When I’m training initiates, I often leave this part out. It’s always good fun to watch their faces. It’s like… remembering a lifetime of memories for the first time. Experiences, pain, joy, lessons and wisdom, all the conclusions of a life lived appear without warning, and as if they had always been there. Reflexes, instincts and knowledge you’ve never heard of become as natural as if they had been with you your entire life.

But the memories are still external to you, it isn’t like we get a hankering for a scratch behind the ears and the desire to get down and clip the grass with our teeth. We can feel that the instincts aren’t ours exactly, even though we know them as if they were. It’s something like dancing with the woman you’ve practiced with for years. You dance different parts, you can’t dance her part of it, but you know exactly how she will do it. You know her reflexes as well as your own and can use them precisely. You know how to signal the movement you know she will make. You never need to say what you are doing to make it known, and it is much the same between mount and rider.

It goes beyond movement, though the ideas and beliefs gained are often difficult to describe in terms namegivers understand. For example, when is someone threatening you to prove that they are not a target, and when are they threatening you because they want, and would take from you? How can a sharing of food bind you to a new ally? Which infringements upon you and yours do not matter, and which must be fought tooth and nail before they spread and destroy you? We namegivers face these issues just as often as the beasts, but we are often so tied up in words, laws and our other creations that we do not see the conflict for what it is. There is great wisdom to be found in the bond.

As far as I can tell, it goes the other way as well. I could not say how well exactly my bonded can comprehend such ideas as money, law or even how a letter can represent a message as clearly as a face, but what I can say is that my bonded has served as my conscience in ways I never imagined possible. Either in the hesitation when there should be action, or in the action when there should be consideration, I find that it is twice as hard to make a mistake as I am reminded by a tug or a doubting glance of what I already knew to be right, but was inclined to forget in the moment. Sometimes he seems oblivious or uninterested in our affairs as namegivers, but other times I feel he understands too much. Enough to know that he should hide it.

On the Mount with Friends and Family
There is a certain reputation cavalrymen have for preferring the company of their mounts to any namegiver. It’s rather silly really, like preferring the company of your hand to that of your friends. Certainly you wouldn’t want to be without your hand, but you aren’t exactly with your hand either. But the belief isn’t entirely without merit either, so allow me to shed some light on it.

Being away from our bonded often makes us a bit nervous, and takes some getting used to on both sides. I find we need to adjust anew in every new location. We need to sort of, become comfortable knowing where the other is and what their routine is in that new place. This is especially awkward on the road, spending only a day or so at each inn doesn’t give time to adjust and I often find myself spending as many nights sleeping in the stables as the beds. That’s really where the reputation comes from. But you’ll find that once a cavalryman has had time to settle, they’re as personable as anyone else. Once we know where our hand is, we don’t feel the need to go find it every time we look down and it isn’t there.

It is a sad failing of our society that it is rarely acceptable to socialize while accompanied by a beast twice your size and smelling of the stables, but I’ll tell you a terribly kept secret. If you ever want to make friends with a cavalryman, just ask to meet their mount. Ask for an introduction like you would for any namegiver and take what they say seriously. They’ll often be overjoyed at the opportunity, and you will truly learn a great deal about them by what they say about their bonded, and if you’re really clever you may actually understand a thing or two about reading the mount’s emotions. Mounts are often much worse at hiding their real emotions than their cavalryman, and trust me, they’re feeling the same things. That’s what we do in the cavalry companies. Seriously, when I got the chance I often went to the captain’s mare and made my arguments to her, as best I could, before going to the captain. It was always useful to know how he would react to my points.

That’s really all it comes down to with Cavalrymen. We need friends and comrades like any other namegiver, but there’s a part of ourselves that isn’t often included in the conversation and it can make things a bit awkward sometimes. When it comes to more intimate relationships, it’s much the same way. You’re going to get to know the bonded as well as you know us, one way or the other. Some will be jealous of the time spent with the bonded, but that is simply thoughtless from our perspective. The mount isn’t competition, it’s a part of us. It’s a bit like wondering why we take time away from our partners to eat three times a day. We aren’t taking attention away from our partners by making sure we don’t starve, we simply have to eat.

And I feel I should mention that all of this goes both ways as well. I cannot tell you how many times I have seen huttawa absolutely baffled by my bonded’s attempt to get them to understand why it is insisting that they meet his rider, at least until I produce the requisite treats. Perhaps they still don’t understand, but they stop giving those questioning looks at least.
Note that this is written based on Panda's alternate Animal Companion Rules: http://pandagaminggrove.blogspot.com/20 ... imal.html . Most importantly, the part where Cavalrymen bond to mounts by performing a naming ritual and blood oath with the mount that is not easily or lightly severed, and causes a blood wound to the adept if their mount dies.

DunKalar
Posts:10
Joined:Mon Jun 07, 2021 3:32 pm

Re: Fan Collection - The Ways of Adepts

Post by DunKalar » Thu Jul 08, 2021 9:04 pm

Hi,

I think the idea itself is splendid. Though there are a lot of Source Books about this topic
- Way of the Adept / Edition 1 Player's Handbook
. Makers of Legend 1 - The Way of War
- Makers of Legend 2 - The Wanderer's Way

So a lot of stuff has already been published.

Since a lot of these descriptions show several sides of the same die, maybe it would be inspiring on how to interpret a Discipline differently than in the above mentioned tomes. Or doing a focused outlook on the tougher situations - like how does a Warrior Adept deal with social challenges, when everything in his life (even getting up in the morning) is a fight - and he does not get the talents for addressing that situation like a Swordmaster or Troubadour could?

utsukushi
Posts:39
Joined:Sat Feb 11, 2017 7:08 pm

Re: Fan Collection - The Ways of Adepts

Post by utsukushi » Fri Nov 19, 2021 6:19 am

Clearly, this took me a while to put together, but... well, here it is! This is written from the perspective of Khara Venge, my Nethermancer with severe social anxiety.
Spoiler:
Chronicler's Notes

When the name Khara Venge was first recommended to me, I set it to my list and thought I would simply stop by the next time our paths crossed. A Journeyman Nethermancer and a member of the Scholar community, she hardly seemed likely to be a difficult interview. And indeed, finding her wasn't terribly difficult. In the end, our paths crossed several times before I was finally able to sit down and talk to her. At first I thought I was simply missing her, and would catch her the next time, but soon I learned that meeting Khara is not a thing I could count on to happen by chance. She does not make herself available, as most Adepts do. She is, for example, never found in the common room of an Inn; I learned that rather, wherever she goes, she pays a little extra to have food brought to her. And left outside her door, where she retrieves it after the server has gone. I read some of the papers she has submitted to the Library, and noted that she speaks very little of what I seek -- her philosophy. She, herself, is curiously absent from her own writings. And yet her name kept cropping up, with cryptic comments that I would understand when I met her.

I was not disappointed.


Nethermancy For Beginners
Um. I was asked to write this? By a very... persistent Scout, Op'Skith Chona. Who is just sitting and staring at me now. Do T'skrang ever blink? They must, I'm sure they... ah, there he goes. Anyway, sorry. I don't know why anyone would be interested in this but he's quite... um, persistent. I wrote that already. But he is. And I don't think he will go away until I do, apparently he's been by a few times, already? I wasn't ignoring him, I just like my privacy, I guess.

Oh, um, the paper. Sorry. I should get to the point, probably. Something about Nethermancy. There are definitely better people to write about Nethermancy. You could be reading Va'gortha, Ellian, or Restan. I don't know why he's asking me. My ho-- the kaer that I... came from, they don't like Nethermancy. Misunderstandings and fear. They, um, sort of banned it, before I was born. But I found my grandmother's journal, and she talks a lot about it and it just made sense, I guess. It's just, you know. I'm sorry, I wish there was a way to take back something I wrote. When I submit papers I can just rewrite them if I get something wrong or put in something foolish but did I mention he's just watching me write? It's very... maybe if I tell him it's distracting he'll turn around or something. I don't think he's trying to be rude. He seems... nice enough, I guess, if you like people who like to talk and then sit and stare at you. I don't want to make him feel bad though, maybe I could just ask him to go get some dinner? Wait, he's going to read this if I give it to him isn't he? Nevermind. I'm starting over.

(Note: This first section I found crumpled up and thrown into the trash, evidently while I went downstairs to arrange for food as requested. Had the night been cool enough for a fire, I'm sure it would have been lost forever, but I feel it is an important piece of the puzzle. When I returned with our dinner, she was deep enough into writing that she seemed less aware of me than she had before. In hindsight, I hope I "stared" less, though I do not recall doing so at all.)

Nethermancy for Beginners
I write this at the request of the esteemed Scout, Op'skith Chona. There are definitely better qualified Nethermancers to speak on this but I suppose different viewpoints might have some inherent value even if it's just mine. I studied first through journals, and only later by classical training, so apparently some of my views are unorthodox.

Writings about Nethermancy almost always start with a What Nethermancy Isn't section. It's not evil, it's not about hurting people, it's not serving the Horrors, etc. I'm sure anyone reading this has read those a dozen times so I'll skip it. What Nethermancy is, of course, is misunderstood and feared, and this you have also seen before. But I don't only mean that to say that those are adjectives that can be applied to Nethermancy or Nethermancers. I mean, those are what Nethermancy is. Those traits are at the heart of it. If it wasn't those things, it wouldn't be Nethermancy anymore.

The Myth of Misunderstanding
Why would it be crucial to our nature to be so misunderstood? Because Nethermancers are ostracized. We're not loners by nature, as I'm told is often the case of the Thief. We're loners by consensus, needed but never wanted. No one is comfortable around a Nethermancer, yet we are the ones they come to with their secrets, their shames, their sadness. Who better to confess your sins to than one you know no one else wants to gossip with? This distance, perhaps paradoxically, allows us to touch the untouchable, even down to the moment of sharing in another's death - surely the most intimate, personal moment any of us will ever have. (It's said that we all die alone, and I have felt that dozens of times. I sometimes hope the spirit I touch can feel me there and might find some comfort in that presence, but I don't have any reason to think so.)

We surround ourselves with an aura of shadow, and others cast their eyes aside and do not look too closely. Our cloak is one of mutual consent, a curtain the world chooses not to peek behind because they don't want to see what lies on the other side. We dwell not upon the thresholds, but in beshadowed corners, and it is a matter of perspective whether we lurk there or keep watch. It's noteworthy, I think, that every Nethermancer I have known found ourselves on the social fringe long before we made our way to Nethermancy. I believe it is prerequisite. Someone who is better socialized, with many friends and loving family, has no reason to turn their attention so far... outward. No one would turn to the spirits for friends if they had corporeal companionship. No one would seek to walk the Netherplanes if they felt at home... at home.

This misunderstanding, then, is the heart of our power in the realm of spirits. Elementalists and Shamans both call upon the spirits native to this world, and work with them in their home milieu. Nethermancers draw the spirits from outside. We can interact with things that do not belong here because we understand what it is to never belong.

To Fear and Be Feared
Of course, there is one way in which we manipulate forces natural to this world. The first Talent I mastered, well before I even realized there was a grimoire hidden in my grandmother's writings, was fear. It is the ability for which we are best known, fairly or not. If it's not obvious, I consider this assessment perfectly fair, for fear is at the center of everything. This is less a statement about Nethermancy and more an uncomfortable fact about people. Fear drives all that we do. I'm not talking about the simple screaming fear of falling from a great height or being eaten by a ravenous beast, but the subtle fears we feel every day. The fear that we will offend or hurt someone we care for, the fear of looking foolish, the fear of simple failure. When a Warrior stands in defense of a village it is right to say he is driven by bravery, but it is also right to say that the very definition of courage is to act in the face of fear. I trust we all understand that anger is rooted in fear, always. Love is borne atop a fear of loss, and when the Troubadour sings joy into a crowd all she needs do is settle their fears for a time. If you are in such a crowd, listen to your heart and judge this yourself if you disagree.

Fear is the soul. I strongly suspect that is why our greatest enemies feast upon it, and not any other feeling -- ultimately, fear is the only emotion. The others are only permutations and reactions.

Thus, a true appreciation of fear is the key to everything. I have always lived with fear, and it is sometimes crippling. But through Nethermancy I have found peace with it. Other Nethermancers I have met seek to suppress their fear, minimizing it within themselves, believing that gives them mastery over themselves. I do not "control" my fear; I embrace it, along with the fear in all of us. I can draw up my own fears and project them into another, or I can evoke your own fears, already stirring within your heart. Fear is too often used as a brutish club, but carefully managed it can be more subtle than any poison. It is unfortunate that Nethermancers must be feared, but it is the foundation of our power among Namegivers.


I said in the beginning that we live on the fringes. It is appropriate, then, that the sources of our magic come from the farthest edges -- the outermost reaches of reality, and the innermost layer of the heart. Fear and misunderstanding do not define us, or constrain us, but empower us. And of course, just as one does not need to be a Warrior to pick up a sword and use it as a tool, neither must one be a Nethermancer to gain by this understanding. Even the greatest Sky Raider shouts in the face of fear; even the most beloved Troubadour feels alone. These are not weaknesses.

Listen to your fears. We have them for a reason. This doesn't just mean to be cautious entering a dark alley when something feels "off" - though it does mean that. But also, do you fear that you will always be trapped in some aspect of your life? A relationship, a job, a habit? Or perhaps you fear that you will miss the opportunity for something you desire. What your fears are telling you is important. You may not be able to have everything you want, but when you find yourself fearing where you are, it is time to make change.

And find the comfort in silence. Your worth does not live in the approval of others, and neither is their worth yours to decide. Yes, there is strength in numbers, but that strength is made of individuals, and it's okay to be alone sometimes. None of us ever fully understand another, and we can never be fully understood, and this is fine.

Barnett93
Posts:4
Joined:Wed Dec 01, 2021 1:23 am

Re: Fan Collection - The Ways of Adepts

Post by Barnett93 » Wed Dec 01, 2021 1:53 am

Hmm. Interesting. Why didn't I see this post before? I definitely have much to say!

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